Sign-ups to one popular VPN service exploded following a new law coming into effect in the United Kingdom, which forces users to prove they are over 18 to access adult content, dating apps, and some types of content on social media.
The new law, dubbed the Online Safety Act, came into effect at midnight BST on Friday, July 25. Alongside these age restrictions, tech platforms risk fines of up to £18 million or 10% of their annual turnover, whichever is greater, if they fail to mitigate the risk of minors accessing harmful content, including self-harm material.
UK residents who want to access sites like Pornhub, OnlyFans, and NSFW communities on Reddit will now need to provide facial recognition data and/or official government-issued ID or or banking provider-based age confirmation, using government-approved third-party verification services like Yoti or Persona. The new rules also apply to online dating services like Hinge, Bumble, Grindr, and Tinder.
Hourly sign-ups to Proton VPN in the UK surged by more than 1,400% in the minutes after the act took effect. For context, sign-ups in France spiked by roughly 1,000% over baseline when the country began implementing similar rules on June 4.
Meanwhile, in Turkey—a European country of 90 million—signups to the VPN spiked 1,100% after the president’s primary political opponent was jailed, leading to violent unrest across the country. Social media restrictions were put in place in the immediate aftermath. In the US, Proton VPN sign-ups spiked 300% after TikTok temporarily went dark earlier this year.
A Proton VPN spokesperson told Mashable that activity began at midnight on Friday, then spiked again at 9 a.m. BST. The company said it expects further surges over the weekend.
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On the other side of the Atlantic, 24 states—including Louisiana, Utah, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Indiana, Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Missouri, Montana, Arizona, Alabama, and Virginia—have introduced similar age restrictions on adult content. These laws are standing up to legal scrutiny, with Pornhub being served a defeat in its Supreme Court appeal against the Texas laws earlier this month.
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Meanwhile, despite political opposition, more states like California and Hawaii are considering similar rules.
Many within the UK have been critical of the new age restrictions, with James Baker, programme manager at Open Rights Group, claiming that UK citizens are “being forced to hand over sensitive personal data to unregulated age assurance providers if they want to have full access” to many platforms, saying this could open them up threats like phishing, hacking and data leaks.
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About Will McCurdy
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